news

NGInfra undersignes a new MoU in China!

15 Jun 2010

Our partners in this MoU are TU Delft, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School (HITSGS), the Science and Technology Bureau of Nanshan district in Shenzhen, and the Netherlands Institute for City Innovation Studies (NICIS). The first research activities will be for the innovative development of sustainable infrastructures for the districts of Nanshan and Longgang in Shenzhen, but the research centre will also be available for rolling out eco-cities elsewhere. For Longgang, for example, a draft urban development master plan is to be produced for the Pingdi centre of urban growth. The aim is to create a pool of hi-tech development in a green setting with state-of-the-art infrastructure. The signing of the MoU was one of the events in a 4-day programme in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which was concerned with Next Generation Infrastructures for eco-cities, and was facilitated by the consulate-general in Guangzhou and the TWA network in Beijing and Guangzhou.

The subsequent seminar at HITSGS, which was also attended by DHV, KEMA and other companies, testified to the substantial interest in the concepts of eco-cities and Next generation Infrastructures, as did talks with local parties. There is good reason: sustainable infrastructures enable sustainable cities, which are vital for China’s model of economic growth through urbanisation. This model seeks to avoid serious environmental damage and other big city problems. Eco-cities are still in the conceptual stage, but in due course China will be able to take a leading role with scalable concepts that are applicable elsewhere in the world.

Next Generation Infrastructures’ sector-linking approach is responsible for the numerous points of contact that have been established with existing Dutch innovation programmes. Many opportunities can be created for Dutch companies and knowledge institutes in water management, architecture, civil engineering, ICT (smart grids, the convergence of image, data and communication streams), transport (electrical vehicle technology), and moreover in the integration and control of these varied and complex systems.

The programme also included visits to the full executive team of South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, and the Tsinghua University incubator in Shenzhen. Both these parties expressed considerable enthusiasm for possible partnership with NGInfra, and promised to explore the relevant options in the coming months.

_{Undersigning MoU.}_{Ming Wang (Deputy director Nanshan district), Drs. Dirk Jan van den Berg (Voorzitter TU Delft), Prof. Chaoying Zhao (Vice dean HITSGS), Prof.dr.ir. Margot Weijnen (Scientific director NGI), Prof.dr. Wim Hafkamp (Scientific director EMI).}
More information can also be found on the next sites: